Community Legal Services of Philadelphia has developed expertise in the civil (i.e., non-criminal) legal problems faced by people with criminal records. Although CLS does not have an "ex-offender unit," per se, several of our legal units do provide assistance to people who have civil legal problems caused by their criminal records. Those units include:
To read a summary of CLS's accomplishments on behalf of people with criminal records, click here.
With the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP), CLS prepared a report called "Every Door Closed: Barriers Facing Parents with Criminal Records" (2002).
To see the Fact Sheets summarizing "Every Door Closed," click here.
Though CLASP, CLS attorney Amy Hirsch published "Some Days Are Harder than Hard: Welfare Reform and Women with Drug Convictions in Pennsylvania" (1999).